Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50954 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50954 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
“I don’t think so,” Raymond laughed. “Gideon already knows about the puppy. The remnant nobles have been very informative. We know everything you have done, and more to the point, everything you have not done.”
“Have they,” Maddox sighed, indicating for Will to get in the back. “Where is Gideon?”
“At your residence, pitiful as it is. Really, Maddox. A concrete and glass box? Even for you, that’s so very… pathetic.”
Maddox got in beside Will, wanting nothing more than to get out of the public eye. Violence was inevitable at this point. His efforts to maintain control of the situation had failed, as they tended to do when Gideon was awake.
“This guy’s a fucking asshole,” Will said to Maddox, not bothering to lower his voice one bit.
Raymond glanced in the rear-view mirror to catch Maddox’s eye.
“Very nice, Maddox, you’ve not instilled the smallest modicum of manners into your pet.”
“Your daddy didn’t fuck them into you either, I guess,” Will rejoined.
This was dangerous sass. Maddox knew Will in a way Raymond obviously did not. Ray thought this was trash talk. Maddox knew it was a warning.
“You’re going to be beaten into submission and likely drained for Gideon’s amusement,” Ray said. “Enjoy the car ride, whelp.”
“I think it would be best if you didn’t speak to my boy,” Maddox said. “For all our sakes.”
“I think it would be best if you trained your pets so they knew how to act around their betters.”
“Will, please, be quiet. Now is not the time for this.”
Will cut his eyes at Maddox. “He’s disrespecting you. And me. You might be okay with some piece of shit talking to you like a piece of shit, but I don’t let anybody talk down to me.”
Raymond didn’t say anything, but Maddox could see the smirk on his face. He’d wound Will up on purpose, like a clockwork toy, and now he was going to see what happened when he let him go.
Not five minutes later, the car slid into the underground parking garage at Maddox’s house. The second it came to a halt, Will flew out of his side of the vehicle, came around to the driver’s door and tried to haul Ray out.
Ray moved considerably faster than Will. So while Will was still trying to assault him, Ray had him wrapped up in an armlock.
“I’m not going to snap his stupid little neck out of respect for you, Mad, but you need to get him under control. Gideon’s going to slaughter this thing if it comes near him.”
“Would you keep him out of the way? As a favor to me? Just put him in his room and shut the door and make sure he stays in there?” Maddox asked.
“Mad…” Will tried to talk, but Maddox was not interested in hearing him. Will’s impulsiveness was not resolving in the slightest. His temper always overrode his common sense. Mad had hoped that in due course Will would become less hotheaded, but if anything, his boy was escalating. It was the wolf side, it kept rearing its feral head at the worst times. A good stint in the wilds with pack master Henry was just what Will needed.
“Gideon is upstairs, I presume.”
“Yes,” Ray said. “And I assume the cage in your bedroom is where this goes?”
“It is as good as anywhere.”
“MAD!”
Will shouted after him. Maddox didn’t have time to deal with him in the moment. Gideon was the bigger problem.
Come to me, my progeny.
He heard Gideon in his mind, rich words lilting their way through his consciousness. He was being summoned. A firm pull at the very core of him demanded he ascend. He resisted for a moment.
Maddox was, well, nervous. Ever since he'd heard the name Gideon in Lorien’s panicked tone there had been a lump in the pit of his stomach. The imminent prospect of being in his maker’s presence again was chilling. He found himself hesitating at the task of climbing the stairs, while knowing he had no choice.
He’d not felt this way for seventy-seven years. Barely the blink of an eye, really, but long enough for him to forget what it felt like to fear again. New York had become his private kingdom, whether he was king or not. He had been the most powerful creature in the city. He had allowed himself to fall into the tempting illusion of dominance and sovereignty. He could have kept himself in check, but it was easier, and often preferential to forget where he had come from.
Mad found his own hesitancy humbling. Perhaps more than humbling. Maybe even completely embarrassing. Gideon was up those stairs, waiting for him, very aware of his presence and the turmoil in what remained of his soul. Gideon knew his hesitation, and his fear, for nothing could be hidden from his maker. The longer he dallied, the more amused and perhaps furious Gideon would be.